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Amnesty accuses Australian government of "mass cover-up" of abuse on Nauru

2,000 leaked case reports reveal catalog of abuse, according to the Guardian

(CNN)Amnesty International has accused the Australian government of a "mass cover-up" after more than 2,000 case reports were leaked detailing abuse on the Pacific island of Nauru.

Published by the Guardian, the documents were reportedly written by guards, caseworkers and teachers working at the Australian immigration center on the tiny island between May 2013 and October 2015.

They detail a devastating catalog of self-harm attempts, violent altercations, hunger strikes and incidents of sexual assault and child abuse, according to the newspaper.

The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection sent CNN a statement saying that many of the reported incidents were unconfirmed allegations, and the files themselves are evidence of the "robustness" of reporting procedures. It also said that "many of the incidents are historical in nature."

It said it's "seeking urgent advice from its service providers today to confirm all of these matters have been previously and appropriately reported to it, consistent with the policies and procedures covering such matters."

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Devastating detail

According to the Guardian, a large number of the reports involve children. Incidents range from children allegedly being hit by officers to distressing accounts of children exhibiting traumatized behavior.

In June 2015, in a logged event relating to chemical poisoning, a student reportedly runs out of the classroom with a bottle of cleaning fluid, managing to swallow a cup before it is knocked out of his hands.

The files are available to view, in full, here. They contain details some readers may find distressing.

Photos:Growing up in detention: The children of Nauru

An image on the Facebook site "Free the Children NAURU," uploaded in November, 2015, shows a small child with a tally of how long they have been on the island.

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Photos:Growing up in detention: The children of Nauru

At the end of 2015, 537 people were being held in the Nauru detention center. Of those, 68 were children.

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Photos:Growing up in detention: The children of Nauru

At the end of 2015, of the 1,792 people being held in Australian immigration facilities, 23.2% had been held for more than 730 days, or more than two years.

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Photos:Growing up in detention: The children of Nauru

The children are being held on Nauru while their families' claims for asylum are processed. Many fled war-torn countries and entered Australian waters by boat. The Australian government says they'll never be resettled in the country.

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Photos:Growing up in detention: The children of Nauru

Australia reopened its controversial offshore processing centers in 2012, after a surge in arrivals of unseaworthy boats. In 2013, families with children were transferred to Nauru until their claims could be processed.

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Photos:Growing up in detention: The children of Nauru

The Australian government says the number of children in immigration detention centers dropped steadily between 2013 and 2015. However, numbers have leveled off since February 2015.

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Photos:Growing up in detention: The children of Nauru

On average, detainees spend 445 days in detention facilities while their claims are processed, according to government figures.

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Photos:Growing up in detention: The children of Nauru

The conditions endured by children at the Nauru detention facility have been the subject of a government inquiry, which investigated claims of sexual and physical abuse.

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Photos:Growing up in detention: The children of Nauru

The Moss Review found that many asylum seekers in the detention center were apprehensive about their personal safety. It found that some instances of sexual and physical assault were not being reported.

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Photos:Growing up in detention: The children of Nauru

The Australian government accepted all 19 recommendations made in the report. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton vowed to tighten security at the center, saying "I find the thought of anybody, in particular children, being sexually assaulted completely abhorrent."

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End of Government denials?

While CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the documents, the allegations closely align with those made recently by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Australian officials told CNN at the time that they strongly denied many of the findings, and had not been contacted about the allegations. But according to Amnesty International's Senior Director for Research, Anna Neistat, Wednesday's leaks are too damning for the government to ignore.

"The exposure of just how appalling the conditions on Nauru are -- and the impact of this on refugees -- has to end the government of Australia's denials," she said in a statement.

"They've repeatedly said this kind of abuse has not been going on. They've been lying," she says.

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Human rights groups have once again called on the Turnbull administration to rethink its approach to resettling refugees and asylum seekers.

"There is undeniable, cumulative evidence that suggests that asylum seeker and refugee children are not safe under existing arrangements on Nauru," said Nicole Breeze, Director of Policy and Advocacy, UNICEF Australia, in a statement.

"The Australian government must take immediate action for children and their families to prevent further harm," she said.

Human Rights Watch called on Australia to close operations on Nauru. "It should move immediately to settle refugees in Australia or an appropriate third country," the group said. "And it should begin a reckoning for the abuses its agents committed and its officials condoned."

'A robust reporting system'

The Nauru government operates the detention center with support from Australia and private contractors.

In response to the report, Broadspectrum, the private company responsible for various services at the detention center, told CNN that it maintains a "robust incident reporting system," and takes all allegations "extremely seriously."

"The care and well-being of asylum seekers is paramount in our processes and actions," said Executive General Manager, Chris Gordon, in a statement. "We have been open and transparent about our work at the RPC [Regional Processing Center], noting that the environment at the center can be complex and challenging."

In an email to CNN, Wilson Security, also named in the Guardian report, said they were unable to respond to questions and referred all inquiries to the Department of Immigration.

Humanitarian?

Since 2012, refugees arriving in Australia by boat have been transferred to offshore centers in small pacific nations such as Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island to make it clear they would not be settling in Australia.